NH considers change to parole system

Monday

Mar 30, 2009 at 6:19 AMMar 30, 2009 at 6:19 AM

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire's corrections commissioner is creating a new division that would allow parolees to remain free even after violating their parole agreements, as long as the violations don't involve new crimes.

Commissioner William Wrenn estimates that the Division of Community Corrections will cost between $1.4 million and $2 million and involve hiring up to 20 case managers around the state. With the support of Gov. John Lynch, he hopes to have at least some of the programs in place by summer.

"I'd like these positions to work with individuals out in the community, keep (parolees) in their houses and jobs and with their families," Wrenn told the New Hampshire Sunday News. "If they do step over the line, deal with them there; don't always bring them back."

The goal is to help parolees succeed and reduce costs. Keeping an inmate in prison costs about $100 day plus medical costs, while outside supervision costs $2.80 a day. Even if that number gets bumped to $5 or $10 per day with new programming, the savings would be considerable.

Wrenn said parolees can be penalized without being forced back to prison. For example, supervision could be increased.

"The people who are committing new offenses should be brought back into the system. We understand that," he said. "But the ones that may relapse by drinking or taking a drug — that's part of the process of recovery."

But some veteran probation and parole officers are worried about the pressure to work with offenders in the community rather than return them to prison when they violate parole.

"It's budget-driven. I blame the Legislature for slashing budgets," said Keith Phelps.

"A lot of us are getting concerned. We can only be spread so thin before something terrible happens. A lot of us believe it is not so much if that happens, but rather when it happens."

Paul Cascio, a corrections lieutenant, said Wrenn has no concrete plans to back up his ideas and that budget dollars, not public safety, are driving changes in the Department of Corrections. The parole plan won't work because there aren't enough treatment programs in the community to support it, he said, especially when some officers' caseloads already are more than double what they should be.

"If you're going to put more people on the street, more supervision is required — more enforcement and more programs," he said.